Inferred Activity Based Conference Enhancement Method and System

1. A conferencing system comprising: a database storing conference paradigm defining rule sets including rules that can be used to characterize conference sessions within a conference space as different conference paradigm types, the database also storing at least first and second action sequences associated with first and second conference paradigm types, respectively, wherein the first action sequence includes enabling content sharing by a first subset of conferees in the conference space and the second action sequence includes enabling content sharing by a second subset of conferees in the conference space wherein the second subset of conferees is different than the first subset of conferees; at least a first sensor device for sensing characteristics of an ongoing conference session within a conference space; a processor programmed to perform the steps of: (i) receiving the sensed characteristics from the at least a first sensor device; (ii) comparing the received characteristics to the paradigm defining rule sets to identify the conference paradigm type occurring in the conference space; (iii) upon determining that the first conference paradigm type is occurring in the conference space, automatically performing the first action sequence; (iv) upon determining that the second conference paradigm type is occurring in the conference space, automatically performing the second action sequence; and (v) repeating steps (i) through (iv) to automatically change action sequences as paradigm type changes during the ongoing conference session.

2. The conferencing system of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of conferees within the conference space employ personal portable computing devices within the conference space, the first action sequence including automatically establishing wireless links with portable computing devices used by the first subset of conferees located within the conference space.

3. The conferencing system of claim 2 wherein the second action sequence includes automatically establishing wireless links with portable computing device used by the second subset of conferees located within the conference space.

4. The conferencing system of claim 2 wherein the second action sequence does not include establishing wireless links with portable computing devices located within the conference space.

5. The conferencing system of claim 2 wherein the first action sequence further includes automatically presenting a user interface via each of the portable computing devices that is wirelessly linked to the processor.

6. The conferencing system of claim 5 wherein at least a first common emissive surface is located within the conference space and wherein the user interface enables a portable computing device user to share content on the common emissive surface.

7. The conferencing system of claim 5 wherein at least a first common emissive surface is located within the conference space and wherein the user interface enables a portable computing device user to control content on the common emissive surface.

8. The conferencing system of claim 5 wherein at least a first common emissive surface is located within the conference space and wherein the user interface enables a portable computing device user to move a cursor around on the common emissive surface.

9. The conferencing system of claim 1 wherein the at least a first sensor device detects content shared in the conference space and determines conference paradigm type at least in part based on the content shared in the conference space.

10. The conferencing system of claim 9 wherein the first sensor device is a microphone and wherein the detected content shared includes audio content detected by the microphone.

11. The conferencing system of claim 9 further including a common emissive surface located within the conference space, the system including at least a second sensor device collecting content shared on the common emissive surface and using that content along with the audio content to determine conference paradigm type.

12. The conferencing system of claim 9 further including a common emissive surface located within the conference space, the sensor device collecting content shared on the common emissive surface and using that content to determine conference paradigm type.

13. The conferencing system of claim 9 wherein the first action sequence includes using at least a subset of the content shared in the conference space to search for supplemental information within a first database and presenting identified supplemental information from the first database via the at least first emissive surface located within the conference space.

14. The conferencing system of claim 13 wherein the at least a first emissive surface includes a common emissive surface located within the conference space.

15. The conferencing system of claim 14 wherein at least a first conferee located within the conference space uses a portable computing device including the at least a first emissive surface.

16. The conferencing system of claim 1 wherein the sensor device detects juxtapositions of conferees within the conference space relative to at least one of (i) other conferees within the conference space, (ii) content presented on emissive surfaces located within the conference space, and (iii) common emissive surfaces located within the conference space.

17. The conferencing system of claim 16 wherein juxtapositions include at least one of proximity and orientation.

18. The conferencing system of claim 3 wherein the first subset of conferees includes at least two conferees and wherein the second subset of conferees includes a single conferee.

19. A conferencing system wherein conferees use personal portable computing devices including emissive surfaces within the conference space, the conferencing system comprising: at least a first common emissive surface located within the conference space; a database storing conference paradigm defining rule sets including rules that can be used to characterize conference sessions within a conference space as different conference paradigm types, the database also storing at least first and second action sequences associated with first and second conference paradigm types, respectively, wherein the first action sequence includes automatically identifying supplemental information in a database and presenting the supplemental information via at least a first emissive surface located within the conference space and the second action sequence includes automatically establishing wireless links to at least a subset of the portable computing devices located within the conference space and presenting an interface on each emissive surface of each linked portable computing device enabling a conferee to share content on the at least a first common emissive surface; at least a first sensor device for sensing characteristics of an ongoing conference session within a conference space; a processor programmed to perform the steps of: (i) receiving the sensed characteristics from the at least a first sensor device; (ii) comparing the received characteristics to the paradigm defining rule sets to identify the conference paradigm type occurring in the conference space; (iii) upon determining that the first conference paradigm type is occurring in the conference space, automatically performing the first action sequence; (iv) upon determining that the second conference paradigm type is occurring in the conference space, automatically performing the second action sequence; and (v) repeating steps (i) through (iv) to automatically change action sequences as paradigm type changes during the ongoing conference session.

20. The conferencing system of claim 19 wherein each of the interfaces enables a portable computing device user to control content on the common emissive surface.

21. The conferencing system of claim 19 wherein each of the interfaces enables a portable computing device user to move a cursor around on the common emissive surface.

22. The conferencing system of claim 19 wherein the at least a first sensor device detects content shared in the conference space and determines conference paradigm type at least in part based on the content shared in the conference space.

23. The conferencing system of claim 22 wherein the first sensor device is a microphone and wherein the detected content shared includes audio content detected by the microphone.

24. The conferencing system of claim 23 further including a common emissive surface located within the conference space, the system including at least a second sensor device collecting content shared on the common emissive surface and using that content along with the audio content to determine conference paradigm type.

25. The conferencing system of claim 23 further including a common emissive surface located within the conference space, the sensor device collecting content shared on the common emissive surface and using that content to determine conference paradigm type.

26. The conferencing system of claim 23 wherein the first action sequence includes using at least a subset of the content shared in the conference space to search for supplemental information within a first database and presenting identified supplemental information from the first database via the at least first common emissive surface located within the conference space.

27. The conferencing system of claim 20 wherein the sensor device detects juxtapositions of conferees within the conference space relative to at least one of (i) other conferees within the conference space, (ii) content presented on emissive surfaces located within the conference space, and (iii) common emissive surfaces located within the conference space.

28. The conferencing system of claim 27 wherein juxtapositions include at least one of proximity and orientation.

29. A conferencing system comprising: at least a first common emissive surface located within a conference space; at least a first sensor device for sensing audio content shared within the conference space; at least a second sensor device for collecting visual content shared on the at least a first common emissive surface; a processor programmed to perform the steps of: (i) receiving the audio content and the visual content from the first and second sensor devices; (ii) using the audio and visual content together to develop a database query; (iii) performing the database query to generate supplemental content; and (iv) presenting the supplemental content via at least at least one emissive surface located within the conference space.

30. The conferencing system of claim 29 wherein the first sensor device is a microphone and wherein the detected content shared includes audio content detected by the microphone.

31. The conferencing system of claim 29 further including at least a third sensor device for sensing characteristics of an ongoing conferencing session in addition to the audio content and shared visual content, the processor using each of the audio content, the visual content and the characteristics of the ongoing conferencing session to develop the database query.

32. The conferencing system of claim 31 wherein the at least a third sensor device detects juxtapositions of conferees within the conference space relative to at least one of (i) other conferees within the conference space, (ii) content presented on emissive surfaces located within the conference space, and (iii) common emissive surfaces located within the conference space.

33. The conferencing system of claim 32 wherein juxtapositions include at least one of proximity and orientation.

34. The conferencing system of claim 29 wherein the step of presenting the supplemental content includes presenting the supplemental content via the at least one common emissive surface within the conference space.

35. The conferencing system of claim 34 wherein at least a first conference attendee employs a portable computing device within the conference space that includes a portable device emissive surface and wherein the step of presenting the supplemental content includes presenting the supplemental content via the portable device emissive surface.

36. The conferencing system of claim 20 wherein at least a first conference attendee employs a portable computing device within the conference space that includes a portable device emissive surface and wherein the step of presenting the supplemental content includes presenting the supplemental content via the portable device emissive surface.